Activities for the Week of November 29-December 3rd

Hello students and parents,

Thanks to all the family members who made it out to our holiday lunch and presentation of 'First Stop Ellis Island'.  It was a fun way to begin the holiday season.

Here's what we'll be doing this week in Grade 4:

Math:

We'll be learning how to multiply with factors that are at least two digits using the classic algorithym method.  We'll then practice solving multiplication problems using both of the methods we've learned, as well as creating arrays and word problems to represent these problems.  We'll also be learning to solve word problems using an organized list as a strategy.

Reading:

We will begin reading our latest class novel, "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever".  While we read we'll be learning about plot conventions such as introductions, conflicts, rising action, climax, and conflict resolution.  We'll be writing our weekly 'reading letter' about the second chapter of our new book, which students will read independently for home work.  We'll also be having our second 'reading buddies' sessions with our friends in grade 1 where we'll be discussing our favourite holiday stories.

Writing:

We will start working on our narrative writing skills this week.  This will correspond with what we are learning about plot conventions during reading lessons.  The students will be asked to create a 'story map' of the narrative that they plan to write, including all the key plot points, before they begin writing and editing their story.  We will then work on writing, sharing, and editing our stories together in time for our Christmas holiday.

Grammar:

We will continue discussing and working with prefixes and suffixes.  This week our focus will be the prefixes un- and pre- and the suffixes -able  and -less.

Spelling

We will be focusing on the J sound at the end of words, as created by -ge and -dge.
Our words for the week are: wedge, bandage, bridge, fudge, sausage, garbage, lodge, badge, cabbage, edge, manage, luggage, judge, damage, package.

Character Studies:

We will be focusing on the character trait of fairness.

Science:

We will be checking our progress with the science project, and discussing the next step we need to finish.  We will also be beginning our new science unit on Motion and Design.


Here's to a great week in grade 4.  All the best,

Jordan Rose